Scripture: John 14:8-10
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father; that will be enough for us.”Jesus replied, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been with you all this time? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I have spoken to you I don’t speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me does his works.
Thought for the Day: Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and that would be “enough” for them. I don’t want to sound like a naysayer, but it won’t be enough. Jesus did amazing things, and in John’s Gospel, there were seven “signs” (probably an eighth, but that’s for a later discussion) that gave witness to Jesus as the divine Word who took on flesh. These signs caused confusion, pushback, ugliness, misguided questions and even some frustration. Jesus had been showing the Father (God, the first person of the Trinity) in so many ways, but it wasn’t what the disciples wanted or expected. Had Jesus done a PowerPoint with pictures and diagrams and charts, I’m pretty sure he would have been critiqued on the color scheme and the font size. I find that people want some simple one-dimensional god that fits well inside a little box and can be pulled out only when necessary. If you can pigeonhole your God, fitting your image easily into one category or under one title or into a nice cubbyhole in the dining room, then it probably isn’t God.
Prayer: Grow my vision of you, O God of the Universe. Expand my vision and help me remove any boundaries I might have placed upon you. Even when it is uncomfortable, I pray to be discomforted for the sake of knowing more than some empty concept of the divine. Amen.
SEE YOU
IN WORSHIP
TOMORROW
